Record Audio Playing On A Computer – The Easy Way

Here’s two, easy ways to record audio playing on a computer. This is ideal for recording audio from things like skype calls, webinars / lectures, streaming music or radio that you want to listen back to or save as a file.

Windows used to have a feature for recording any sound playing your computer. This was done by enabling ‘stereo-mix’ in the sound properties, the newer versions of windows no longer have stereo mix (probably since streaming became so much more common and it gave people the ability to freely record and save music and audio from streaming sources). However there are a a number of ways to achieve the exact same thing that ‘stereo-mix’ did.

Below are 2 ways to do this, both are easy and will not require you to go changing aroundany settings on your system or sound card. Both require downloads of software, but they are small pieces of software that carry no threat. I wouldn’t recommend using anything other than these 2 methods.

I have created a video tutorial on the two easiest ways I have found to record audio playing on a computer, these are simple steps that can be followed by anyone:

Method 1 – Record Streaming Audio with Audacity

Audacity is a free program available to download and allows you to record any audio playing on your computer. This method is completely free, so probably the most appealing way.

In the toolbar section you will need to make changes to the recording devices.

Change ‘Audio Host’ from MME to Windows WASAPI (see image below)

Change ‘Recording Device’ to ‘Headphones’ or ‘Speakers’ – it should say ‘loopback’ in brackets after.

Change the playback device to match the above selection.

You are now ready to record any audio that plays on your computer, simply hit record and audacity will capture it.
Note that it will record EVERYTHING, if you have sound alerts on, if you adjust the volume of any source, it captures exactly what you hear.

Audacity is a great tool to have anyway as is also a good for editing and processing audio.

Method 2 – Record Streaming with Total Recorder

The ‘standard’ licence has everything you need for recording streaming audio. It costs $17.95, it is a once of payment and well worth it if you record streaming audio on a regular basis.

Install and open the software (it only takes a minute).

Adjust the recording levels to your liking (test it out first and make sure the levels are not too low or going red).

Hit Record! Total recorder now captures any audio playing through your computer and you can save it as any format you want. It also contains some useful features such as being able to schedule recordings for particular times.

Save your recording as a wav, mp3 or any other format.

It’s as easy as that, record any audio playing on a computer with these two easy methods. If you’ve found an easier way, be sure to let us know.

the main software I use is Adobe Audition as well, I plan on adding lots of tutorials and tips for it to this site… its a great piece of software.

If your looking for something cheap and basic, audacity is definitely your best choice.

What services do I provide… basically this site is just a hub for information on DIY recording / processing and all things audio related… I add in the podcast reviews as something extra. I also run a voice over and production service over at http://www.productiongits.com – we do a lot of intros / branding for podcasts if that is of any interest to you.